State v. Williams, 306 Ga. 50

In Feb 2018 a Fulton County grand jury indicted Graham Williams for (1) distribution of heroin (OCGA § 16-13-30(b)) and (2) felony murder predicated on that distribution after Leslie Ivey died of a heroin overdose.
At a July 2018 pretrial hearing on Williams's plea in bar under the Georgia Medical Amnesty Act, evidence showed Williams injected Ivey with a syringe at Ivey’s request using heroin Ivey had obtained; the source of the heroin was not definitively established.
Williams testified (and introduced evidence) that he sought medical help in good faith; the State presented a witness who said Williams obstructed efforts to summon medical aid.
Williams moved (among other things) a general demurrer asserting the indictment failed to charge an offense and a plea in bar invoking Medical Amnesty Act immunity; he also moved to dismiss the felony-murder charge on vagueness grounds (not pursued at hearing).
The trial court dismissed the indictment, ruling as a matter of law that injecting Ivey with Ivey’s own heroin at his request did not constitute "distribution" under OCGA § 16-13-30(b), and thus both counts failed.
The Georgia Supreme Court reversed, holding the trial court improperly relied on facts outside the indictment (and not stipulated by the State) when effectively sustaining a general demurrer, and remanded for further proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether dismissal was proper under a general demurrer	State: indictment sufficiently alleges distribution and felony murder; dismissal erroneous	Williams: facts presented show no distribution; indictment fails to charge offense	Reversed: trial court improperly considered extrinsic facts not in indictment or stipulated by State; demurrer not sustained
Whether court could rely on pretrial hearing evidence to resolve demurrer	State: did not stipulate facts for demurrer; hearing was for plea in bar only	Williams: hearing evidence shows injection-only conduct, negating distribution	Court: may not use hearing evidence beyond indictment unless State stipulated those facts
Applicability of Medical Amnesty Act to bar prosecution	State: Act covers only possession offenses, and Williams did not act in good faith	Williams: sought medical help in good faith; injection at Ivey’s request is not distribution so Act applies	Court did not decide Medical Amnesty Act merits—dismissal was reversed on procedural grounds
Whether injecting another with that person's own heroin constitutes "distribute" as matter of law	State: conduct can support distribution charged in indictment	Williams: injection at request with victim’s own heroin is not distribution; lacks indicia of distribution	Court declined to rule on the substantive question; left open for trial or proper motion consideration

Daniels v. State, 302 Ga. 90, 805 S.E.2d 80 (addressing sufficiency standard for general demurrer)
Schuman v. State, 264 Ga. 526, 448 S.E.2d 694 (trial court may consider stipulated facts beyond the indictment)
State v. Brannan, 267 Ga. 315, 477 S.E.2d 575 (dismissal appropriate when written stipulation shows no offense)
Lowe v. State, 276 Ga. 538, 579 S.E.2d 728 (if admitted facts necessarily establish guilt, indictment sufficient)
State v. Grube, 293 Ga. 257, 744 S.E.2d 1 (demurrer review limited to four corners unless facts are stipulated)
Kimbrough v. State, 300 Ga. 878, 799 S.E.2d 229 (distinguishing general vs. special demurrer)